What Is a Dragon To Do With Shortlife Rumors?
by Jatd4ever
Summary: Thanks to his magnificent dragon sized ears, he heard such murmuring, how boring. Another story for the story game.


***I don't own jane and the Dragon or its characters**

 **As it is, this game is so unpredictable, so I thought I'd throw a curveball of a plot. Also, I think lareepqg's next fic might be chronologically before mine. Not sure yet, we'll just see how it goes. Again, thank you to everyone in the story game. I wanted to do Jester Mopes, but I couldn't seem to flesh out enough, so I added Dragon to the mix. Hopefully this will be a pleasing addition.**

* * *

The whole ordeal was madness. Jester had lost his blueness, the bog weevil was almost bearable, and Jane was wearing a frock. A _blooming_ frock. Shortlives, what fickle creatures. The last couple of weeks, rumors had drifted around the kingdom.

Thanks to his magnificent dragon sized ears, he heard such murmuring, how boring.

"Have you heard? There is to be an engagement!"

This was nothing new to him, shortlives carried on, married, birthed little shortlives, and so on and so forth. At the town square, were the usual merchants, along with artisans, and others he could care little for. At the public well, widows along with their grown daughters gathered their share of fresh water, and would meet with the other woman, and would gossip. They were perhaps the noisiest bunch of all.

"An engagement? About time, no more of this running around half naked."

Thanks to his magnificent dragon sized ears, he heard such murmuring, the like which had caught his attention.

"Have you heard? They say the suitor is handsome."

Dragon decided to land a little away, far enough to be hidden, but close enough to listen.

" _I saw him I did, none like him in all these parts."_

 _"More handsome then the merchant Breech's son?"_

 _"His looks are unmatched, I am sure the children will take after him."_

That heat of his dragon smoke could roast a man alive at that moment. Their words, they were not true, there was no way they could be. Rumors, that was all they were.

 _"That is, if she will have him. A stubborn girl she is, none the like I had seen in years."_

He flew away before he could hear anything disparaging. Honestly, the way some people spread rumors made him feel like turning the whole lot of them into charcoal. Shortlives, a noisy, gossiping bunch they were. Yet, he would get to the bottom of this, and if all else failed, go to the source of the problem.

* * *

The fool had difficulty keeping his eyes open. Not only had he spent half the night thinking of clever sayings and anecdotes, but thinking of ways to resolve the troubling predicament. Jane, his lady Knight, his dearest friend, was a pawn in someone else's game. It was distasteful the way nobles carried out their affairs. Of course, these sentiments were not for everyone, for his lord, king Caradoc and his household were a forward thinking lot.

However, his sentiments were true for a few in the kings service. Perhaps in the end, it would resolve itself. In his heart, he ached, he did not feel as secure in this sense of thinking as he had in the past. Unlike Gunther, Algernon treated all he met with a fairness, for he was not so above them in station as to think low of them. Like Gunther, he was handsome of face and build, his knowledge of the law, of music, books, and matters of state and country were extraordinary.

In other words, Algernon was a threat to his own happiness, a rival as it were. With Gunther, at least he stood a fair chance with his skill of verse, dagger of a tongue, and bells of fury. Alright, perhaps not the last one, but he could best him without swords if needed. Yet, Algernon was an excellent rival, and was pleasing enough to carry an intelligent conversation with. Was there not anyone who could discover a weakness in him?

As he was thinking this, a giant green gargoyle appeared in the clouded, sapphire blue sky. "Hey Jingle boy, have you heard?"

"Heard what? I heard you," with a laugh. "if that is your meaning."

"No. Say Jester, you are Jane's best friend, yeah?"

"I guess… I suppose…. Why, did she say something?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Since you follow her around like a bright, colorful horse fly, I thought you would know about the rumor."

"What rumor?"

"You know, about the engagement."

The fools face hardened, "Ah, _that_ rumor." he sighed, and took a few moments to become rational before he continued. "Yes, there has been talk within the company of nobles about an alliance which would bring about a change. Supposedly, in a neighboring kingdom, the crime has been allowed to run rampant because of the corruption of their government. I know not of all the details, but a crazy idea has been talked of, I am not sure you would care for it."

"Go on."

"There has been talk of breeding a race of warriors, composed of true blood. To me it sounds more like a ballad then a plan, though I might have to give it further thought. If you are thinking this includes our coppertop, then dismiss it at once. No one, especially Jane would take part in a such ludicrous…"

"For once, you may be right Jester. Give it further thought. I have been around long enough to know there are shortlives foolish and wicked enough to try."

"Dragon, promise me this, speak of this to no one, for if word goes out to the common folk of such a rumor, I may lose my place as well as other things for that matter."

"Like what?"

With a few hand gestures, Dragon came to understand his meaning. Change, it was supposed to be a good thing was it not.

Then again, it could bring about a change no one was prepared for.

* * *

Music came from the dining room, soon the king and queen would propose a toast, and wish good luck to their honored guests. The ball was still a few days away, but the king wanted to express his hospitality. The pretty boy whatever his face was waiting, for Jane unfortunately, but hopefully he would keep on waiting if Dragon could do anything about it. Oh, how he despised him, with those lecherous eyes, that smirk of a mouth that was even more despicable than Gunther. In fact, he found himself favoring Gunther over that goose feathered, pretentious, charm of a dream, straight out of a story book prince character.

By now, Dragon would have scared him away if Jane had not forbid it. As always, there she was in her tower, a shadow of herself it seemed, cursing under her breath, sitting on the edge of her bed, fuming. For one reason or another, he would find her this way from time to time, usually it was mother or Gunther related. "Why are you here instead of down there keeping night watch?"

Finishing her braid, she sighed. "I have been given the night off."

"Then why not come with me to explore a level of my catacombs?"

"I would love to cannot, but right now I am a little busy."

"Doin' what?"

"I…ugh! I wish I knew Dragon. In a few moments, I have to go out there in this."

Dragons eyes widened at the sight of her. Lovely of course, no taller or shorter, though there was a slight redness about her ears and nose. None of this really mattered, to him she would always be winsome, but her dress; it was that ominous frock again that wrapped her body, the one which started the rumors. "Oh no, you have to see tha-"

"Dragon please, this is not the time."

She knew him too well, and Jane preferred she did not have more things to laugh about while in his company. Dragon found this was going to be another troublesome day where he did not get what he wanted. By the day, it seemed as though she took on me responsibility, meaning less time for him. Change, it was an enemy. Like all dragons, as well as their nature, he would express his displeasure and disapproval. "What happened to _'I want to be a smelly old Knight?'_ I thought you hated dresses, and you loathed them, and would not be caught dead in one."

Lately, there seemed to be a loss to the roundness of her cheeks. Was it possible, that his tough, little shortlife was going through the change? The kind all folk go through? No, not her, anyone but her. Sadness pricked his eyes as he watched Jane slip her feet into those pinchy shoes, the ones her mother claimed shrunk the toes and such.

Dragon felt himself tearing up, but he dare not betray it.

It was my fair, none of it. Jane wanted nothing more than to leap off her tower, just to fall into his scaly arms and laugh at the rush of it. Why, she would rather fall into the mud, or hold a bouquet of flowers and play fairy queen with Lavinia, but this, this was a test. When one made oaths, it meant promising to do things one may not enjoy; that is if there was no decent reason to deny the request. Why, she would rather fight Gunther, until her arms were sore, until they fell onto the ground a little away from each other, and lay in silence while they recovered from their exhaustion.

Yet, it would not be, for he was no longer Gunther, and she was hardly Jane. "We cannot always get what we want can we?"

"This is madness! Last time you had no choice, but what about now Jane? You can choose, no one is forcing you."

"I have a duty."

"To who? The King you swear at? I thought your duty was to God above all else, then yourself, then to the man with the crown down there. Is everything true? Are the rumors true?"

"And what would that be?"

"Jane it cannot be true… you.. No… yo… you are jesting… right?"

"Tonight," her knuckles white with frustration. "I will be expected to act courtly and civil. I have been invited to the special dinner, and I cannot refuse it. Jester will tell his new jokes, Pepper will display all the lovely food she has prepared."

"And you Jane?"

"I will… I will exist."

Dragon clawed at her tower, but reminded himself to be calm, or else he may destroy it. Funny, his years might have been catching up with him. And like those years, so did its melancholic depressions. "I guess they were right. I cannot believe this, you will be going down there, to be with _him_ you mean, with that pretty, funny looking mustache, _I am too charming for my breeches_ GUY. Why? _"_

"Dragon, please understand, it is nothing more than dinner."

"No, I will not understand. I thought you disliked him? What changed? And what is with your hair?" he breathed in her scent, which upset him further. "You smell of rose water."

"That is because I bathed."

"You have changed Jane. What happened to you, you used to be so… brilliant and free flowing. What changed?"

"Everything." she whispered at first.

The air shifted, it bent, his shortlife, she was pained. Her body shook, her fists frozen at her sides. "Maggots!"

"Jane, I did not mean…"

"I know, you were only concerned, but I can take care of myself."

"I did not mean it."

The silence threatened to overcome them both, then she heard the horns which signaled that soon dinner would be served. It would not do to leave this gap, especially with her caring beast of a friend. It was a cruelty to believe he would not notice a pattern, as though stupidity became him. Despite his forgetfulness, he still carried a childish ignorance at times, and perhaps he would be more reasonable than the princess.

"When I decided to wear this dress a month or so ago, it seems as though I have turned the castle upside down. Gunther is troubled, Jester has changed his colors, Pepper is laughing at who knows what, and my mother thought it was splendid time to inform me of a suitor, perhaps suitors. Nothing has been the same. Everything, I hate to admit, has gotten out of control."

Dragon knew that much.

Her simple tower room had become like a storage room. The first weeks of gifts were frustrating, but after a while she had come to deal with them as she pleased, and Dragon did not seem so bored of turning a few gowns and pretentious items into charcoal. Nonetheless, on her mantle were a few favored items, some simple, others complex, but more suitable to get liking. Perhaps not all the suitors were beef brains. Other items were stepped on, pushed aside, or placed outside for the elements to carry out judgement.

"All these gifts you have been receiving, none of them suit you Jane. You like pretty things, but nothing this pretty."

Jane's eyes went away from the childish reed flute which was one of the simpler gifts, and turned, reaching out to calm her lovable green newt. "I wish I could say the same." she softened. "The truth is, I love this gown, I am grateful to her majesty to bestow something so lovely."

Near her pillow, sat a box, the one with colorful stones, and other odd foreign trinkets. When she grew bored, she would come to this box, and trace the shapes of the carved figures of stone, or the scraps of dyed fabrics tied together to form a necklace. Why, it was a box of intrigue, with many items which would take more than a day to explain its contents, and it had been another of the simpler gifts she loved. A gentle smile formed on her lips. "The gifts, however, I am divided on. Someone, at least one of them could only know me so well. I am curious to know who that may be," then she bit the insides of her cheek. "nothing more."

"What are you going to do?"

"I am about to go down, and honor my family. However, I never said I would accept him, or anyone who comes along. I have not given up hope yet Dragon."

"Why?"

"I am, I hope, will be meeting _him_ at the ball."

"You mean _Him_ him? The one who wrote you all those pretty verses?"

A blush dusted her cheeks. "Yes."

"Why did you not say so? You could have told me."

This earned him an eye roll. "I am trying to avoid anymore unnecessary rumors."

"Until then, what are you going to do?"

With a sudden excitement, she laughed. "I will do what I do best."

The light in her eyes returned, and despite a piece of fabric most would call a gown, Dragon now knew it might, just might be a test to her destiny. A plan played upon her brow, and he watched as she tested the weight of her sleeves.

"You are bringing the dagger again?"

She answered with a wink. Relief, the kind he thought only cows could bring him washed over him. All at once he felt stupid, for Jane, no matter how she dressed, would be his Jane. "This is great, I knew you had it in you."

This she doubted, but her heart lightened at the sight of his relief. Placing a kiss upon his snout, she spoke with affection. "You will never lose me. My friendship, you will always have it."

Again, he had to hold back his tears, or risk drowning Jane in her tower. Dragon nudged her, pushing the she knight away. "Stop that, others might be watching."

"As though you ever cared before. Now, if you will excuse me," she smiled with determination, "I have a dinner to attend."


End file.
